The older assassin at the front took a step back.
"Retreat."
Too late.
Victor disappeared.
It was not like the Mist Steps.
There was no softness.
No elegance.
It was an explosion.
The ground where he had been kneeling sank all at once, opening a shallow crater, and his body crossed the distance to the assassin at the front like an arrow fired from a siege crossbow.
The vampire raised his blade.
Fast.
Very fast.
But not fast enough.
Victor struck the center of the guard with his fist.
BOOOOOOM!
The shockwave exploded on contact.
The assassin was thrown backward, his arms trembling violently under the force of the blow. The blade in his hands did not break, but the bone in his right forearm cracked under the pressure.
Victor felt it too.
The discharge rebounded through his own arm.
Numbness ran through his elbow, rose to his shoulder, and bit into his nerves like incandescent needles.
He frowned slightly.
"Bad flow."
A blade came from his left.
